Tender Words from our Missionary Son

Elder Bennett and me with the Contreras Family

Hey Fam and friends,

We went on a wayy cool hike today for pday and I'll send you pics it was wayy cool you could see all of San Luis and La Punta-- it was wayy awesome! 

MOOOMMMM!!

I have misseeddddd you sooooo much this week!! YOU are the most amazing woman in my life and I can't begin how to describe how grateful I am for you and everything YOU'VE taught me.

I had a really...interesting week and I learned a lot as always but I've come sooo much closer to my savior and I haven't realized what started that...it was YOU... you as my mom have truly taught me how to love and trust the savior and with that knowledge I could take it out on the mission and continue to grow it. I'm learning more and more how much Father in heaven and our Savior love us. I've got just a slight glimpse bigger (or even smaller I'm sure) but it's changed me even more...I truly trust in the love that our Savior has for all of us and its that love that I'll always trust in to keep me spiritually and physically safe for my whole life.

Mom I love you sooo much you are one of the strongest women I know and have gone through MANY hard things yourself. You're truly an example to me and I hope that whoever is my precious wife someday will be exactly like you because I will love her with all my heart. That was deep ahaha but I do mean it ma. Thank you.

But no seriously this week was one of those weeks where I just really missed my Ma haha.  

Dad I had a pretty scary week with the adversary this week. Several things happened but everything turned out ok. I learned a lot and that I can truly trust the lord with everything. It's truly in that love that He has given to all of us that I have learned sooo much on how to trust and to NEVER forget.  Hey my comp Elder Bennet is going home in 2 weeks-- he's ending his mission this transfer haha. I might send something down with him but let me know if you guys want anything!  We get along wayyyy good! We've both learned a lot from each other and we're working super hard for the Lord. 

Hey I'm excited about the house and everything! How are you doing?? I've been praying a lot for you this week hoping that everything is going good with you at work. Thank you sooo much for helping mom with her problems when you have your own. You've always been an amazing example to how a husband should be and how to truly give all of yourself to her. Always serving her and loving her and that's what I want to be someday:)

So we had a way good week with some more new people that we're teaching! But the main man Maicol (which by the way is how he spells it so that's why I write it like that and not Michael haha) had something happen. So he was going to get baptized this next week which we were going to have to move back because he's still smoking but he told us he's going to Buenos Aires at the beginning of February for a month. Then he'll come back for a week here in San Luis and go back for a month and do that for we don't know how long...it was kinda sad because he won't be able to progress. BUT were hoping to pass on where he'll be living in Buenos Aires to the mission in what sounds like Buenos Aires North Mission so were hoping they'll be able to continue teaching him up there!

Other than that we found 2 awesome christian evangelicals that are pretty different but one has a more stronger desire to learn but we're helping them learn. They're named Diego and Omar and we gave them some restoration pamphlets to read because we were talking about a lot of random things and then we had to go but we're going to talk about the restoration today with them so we'll see how it will go! 

Also this week we've had some other weird and interesting things happen and I've come even more closer to my Savior and I can trust him with everything in my life. I know he will always help me and protect me from what can hurt me physically and more importantly spiritually. I've gained a more stronger testimony of that and of being a representative of my Lord Jesus Christ. Anyway, I wanted to share that with you all.

I love you all soo much! I hope you all have an amazing week!

Elder Chamberlain

Veronica's Story

Whaddup everybody!

This last week was awesome. More so last night. There is always a lot that happens every week and more this week but I'm going to try and pick a story and give more details then just giving a broad view of my week.

So I'll start with last night. Yesterday after visiting a member family we went to go try one of our references that we had tried earlier that week. We were able to talk to the husband and he didn't want anything to do with us at all. His wife wasn't home so we asked if we could come back later and he said he didn't care.  So after hearing that we went and met another lady.  We asked her her name and she was the reference we got from a nice old lady. Haha she was pretty nice! As we started talking to her she tells me "Oh que bonito" haha it just means like...o how beautiful...in english its kinda weird but it's more common in spanish haha. There's a lot of things that sound weird being directly translated into english from spanish.

But anyway we were a little more forward and she let us inside and we got to meet her daughter Veronica. It turns out that 2 years ago almost exactly, Veronica was shot with a revolver in the head at point blank after begging for her life. Two Chimbas beat her and took her ring, necklace and everything and they were telling her not to cry at the same time this was happening. But this poor girl was obviously scared out of her mind. One of the guys was beating her with his gun and she asks not to kill her and he just looks at her...and then shoots her point blank. We couldn't believe the story she was telling us. They showed us the newspaper,photos and told us about her recovery. Veronica has had to re-learn just about everything from walking,talking and eating. I swear it is so insane how much this girl has recovered. She was talking to us normal and understanding us and everything!

I felt prompted that we should teach the plan of salvation and let her know why we're here and that she still has a purpose to fulfill here from God. She's still a little bit locita haha she asked us a couple times if she was actually alive and if she was in the spirit world still because she talked with her grandparents from both sides who are dead and they told her that she needed to go back. Other than that she's perfectly fine just a little slow but wow it's amazing the recovery she's had. It was such a cool experience. We both got to share our testimonies on the atonement and how our savior Jesus Christ has literally felt every pain, and sickness physically and emotionally that we've felt or will ever feel.

Later after the lesson she asked if she could be a missionary like us and if we would show her how to help other people like her so they wouldn't have to suffer. She made us promise her. I almost started to cry when I promised her --I couldn't believe the love this girl had after everything that has happened to her. It could be EXTREMELY EASY to look at the world(God included) and say I don't care anymore. God doesn't love me nor does he care. But yet she would want to serve him by helping other people like her. It was really cool to see for me personally.

Ya I missed you guys a lot this week-- it was kinda hard. But I've had a lot of them so it's ok. It's just hard seeing families be fun and do stuff together and know that at the end of today (Just today tho haha) I get to go back to my little cave haha. But it's going to be soo worth it!  I'm happy for that. I'm just glad my Savior has felt what I've felt and how only He truly knows how hard it can be.

So that was a story that I wanted to share this week. We had some others but not as big as this one. 

Anyway I love and miss you all! Everybody have a great week! Let's try to love others like Veronica!

Much love!

Elder Chamberlain